Vanuatu 11

It's one of those weeks when you feel like you could use a few extra hands.

On the one hand (pardon the pun) I have seen the second 'protest' today, with people increasingly dissatisfied with the apparent slow response of government and support agencies to the disaster. They have a small point, when you consider the torrential rains that have now hit as a side-wash of TC Solo. (This is a cyclone that hit New Caledonia to the SW of Vanuatu over the weekend).

On the other, every agency is stretched. This is one of the first time's I've sat in meetings and heard most of the major agencies put up their hand to say 'we're out of people' or 'we're out of money' or 'we're out of gear'.

The Salvation Army is not too much different to the others as we have very few people in Vanuatu and no gear! The positive side to that is that we get to buy all of our stuff  'in country', which I love because it stimulates the local economy.

Over the weekend I had another three of our project proposals approved. One formally allows for the reconstruction of 200 houses on the island of Tanna. One is a multi-sectoral project that provides comprehensive support to one community on the fringe of Port Vila; here we will support everything from self-repairs of shelters to school retention. The third supports the redevelopment of fishing livelihoods in three villages in Tanna. My small team have their work cut out for them.

In addition to this we have picked up another village on Efate Island to work in: Erakor. This was a glaring gap on the agency map: 1200 households. We're still working out how we support this community; your prayers for wisdom and guidance would be appreciated.

In the meantime I reflect on some ironies today - like the logistics people double booking our room (!) and consequently kicking the shelter group out of their shelter! I reflect on the fun of the development setting - meeting lots of new people to engage with. And I laugh at the silliness as representatives of many the world's largest aid agencies huddled under a tent in the rain, mostly sitting on tables, mud everywhere, as we discussed high level reconstruction strategies.